I am ready for the excuses, I am ready for the back-biting, I am ready for the bad losers to come out of the woodwork. I am ready for all of this.

Because last night I saw my beloved Spurs rip apart an Arsenal side who, contrary to popular belief, were pretty much top-strength. In fact, we annihilated them.

The side soundly thrashed at White Hart Lane included Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Aleksandr Hleb and for most of the match, Cesc Fabregas. The rest of their team were no chumps either, with a further six internationals and a former World Cup winner. So enough of this 'weakened team' excuse, Gunners.

'Ramos worked wonders in La Liga when he took a side of similar stature to within 90 minutes of the title last season'


Juande Ramos has worked wonders. His first few results I took as the usual upturn in form when a new boss comes in. But now the Spaniard is performing miracles and could well be our Arsene Wenger. I honestly believe that, given a couple of years, the former Sevilla boss will have brought us to the same level as the Gunners - and perhaps even taken us ahead of  them!

Ramos worked wonders in La Liga when he took a side of similar stature to within 90 minutes of the title last season as well as European success. He did so with nothing more than an average budget. The priority at Spurs is to keep the stars on board, and to convince them that any ambitions they have can be fulfilled at White Hart Lane.

This may sound a tad too optimistic, brought about perhaps after one too many beers following last night’s superb performance. But I think there is enough evidence over the three months of the JR reign to be looking at silverware. The stats don't lie, 12 wins from 21 games is a good start and now we are in a Cup Final, going well in two other cups and slowly rising in the league.

We need Dimitar Berbatov to stay, along with some defensive players and maybe a new keeper as well. But we have the nucleus of a quality squad with a good mix of youth and experience. I think next season will be crucial and I do believe that by 2010 we could well be up there in the top four - and may even have overtaken Arsenal.